Self-actuated microfluidic chiplet for two-stage multiplex nucleic acid amplification assay.

Effective diagnosis of comorbidities and infectious diseases that present similar symptoms requires point-of-need assays capable of co-detecting and differentiating among multiple co-endemic pathogens to enable timely, precision medicine and effective control measures. We previously developed a two-stage isothermal amplification assay dubbed Penn-RAMP to address this need. Penn-RAMP's first stage comprises a recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA), which amplifies all targets of interest in a single reaction chamber for a short duration.

Microfluidic-based technologies for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of COVID-19: recent advances and future directions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges to existing healthcare systems around the world. The urgent need for the development of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for COVID-19 has boomed the demand for new technologies that can improve current healthcare approaches, moving towards more advanced, digitalized, personalized, and patient-oriented systems. Microfluidic-based technologies involve the miniaturization of large-scale devices and laboratory-based procedures, enabling complex chemical and biological operations that are conventionally performed at the macro-scale to be carried out on the microscale or less.

Electromechanical RT-LAMP device for portable SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Rapid point-of-care tests for infectious diseases are essential, especially in pandemic conditions. We have developed a point-of-care electromechanical device to detect SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA using the reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) principle. The developed device can detect SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA down to 10 copies/mL and from a low amount of sample volumes (2 μL) in less than an hour of standalone operation without the need for professional labor and equipment.

An Electromechanical Lab-on-a-Chip Platform for Colorimetric Detection of Serum Creatinine.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a high-cost disease that affects approximately one in ten people globally, progresses rapidly, results in kidney failure or dialysis, and triggers other diseases. Although clinically used serum creatinine tests are used to evaluate kidney functions, these tests are not suitable for frequent and regular control at-home settings that obstruct the regular monitoring of kidney functions, improving CKD management with early intervention. This study introduced a new electromechanical lab-on-a-chip platform for point-of-care detection of serum creatinine levels using colorimetric enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).